By
Dan |
Published
Nov 17 2008, 10:25 PM
When PocketFivers think of Cliff JohnnyBax Josephy, many envision images of one of the top online poker players in the world. The owner of the top spot on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings for over a year, Josephy has found success in some of the largest buy-in tournaments held. Many poker players point to his World Series of Poker bracelet win in Stud as justification for Josephy’s skills being quite more diverse. Recently, he took down the 15th event of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), a $200+16 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha High/Low tournament, for over $46,000. PocketFives.com sat down with its ranked player to talk about his Omaha success.
In the FTOPS X event, Josephy managed to tack on chips early, setting the tone for play to come. He told PocketFives.com, “I was sort of on autopilot. Things came easy. I got my chips in right away with the nut low and top set and won 3,000 right away. I had a bunch of opportunities and played super tight in the beginning.” On his mentality throughout the event, which drew 1,025 players, he added, “I don’t know if what I did was right or wrong. I used my card sense and my tournament sense. I wasn’t able to exert pressure like you normally can on the bubble.”
The Stud bracelet proved to many doubters that Josephy could win both live and online. In addition, it also solidified Josephy as being proficient in multiple varieties of poker. He commented that he enjoys playing different games besides Hold’em, but very rarely gets the chance to because the tournament fields are often very small. However, events like the FTOPS and World Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars, among others, allow for Josephy and poker players around the world to mix up their games.
When I first started with PocketFives.com, the site’s icon was JohnnyBax. To a degree two and a half years later, it still is. Josephy is ranked 36th on the strength of the 11th best Pro Poll score, helping to offset his 65th best PLB figure. He told PocketFives.com that ascending back to the top spot in the Rankings is not on his “To Do” list: “I am never going to put in the volume. I don’t play all of the tournaments. This weekend was the first time in forever that I started at 12:45pm on a Sunday.”
His lifestyle allows for ample time with his children, which is at the forefront of his priorities. During the FTOPS Main Event and other tournaments he was playing on Sunday, he was able to bond with his kids and watch the New York Giants play the Baltimore Ravens at the same time: “I didn’t act as fast as I normally would at the tables. I was trying to enjoy those three hours with the kids.”
Josephy has a number of projects on his plate. Along with James P0KERPR033 Campbell, Tracy Scala, Tiffany Michelle, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, and Adam Roothlus Levy, Josephy is a member of Ultimate Bet’s Star Players team. He also makes time to be a lead instructor for PokerXFactor, a popular poker training site. He travels to major tournaments around the world and, despite all of his other diversions, still manages to make time for PocketFives.com. On his work with Ultimate Bet, he noted, “If the company is run the way it’s supposed to be run and they give customers what they want, then things will go in the right direction.”
On the importance of PocketFives, he commented, “I always look at the multi-accounting and cheating posts and all of those different types of threads with a large number of responses. Also, the first thing I do when my Full Tilt Poker server crashes is head to PocketFives. It’s an important asset.”
In 2006, Devon Miller and Josephy squared off at the final table of the Aruba Poker Classic, the annual live tournament hosted by Ultimate Bet. That year, Miller ultimately triumphed and the PocketFiver took second for nearly $450,000. Armed with a James Patterson book, Josephy hit the felts and the beach in Aruba again this year: “The people down there were great. The customers all had a good time and it was nice to meet some of them. I made sure that I woke up early and read a book. I carried that experience to the Bellagio last month and instead of working on the computer, I worked with a phone from the pool.”
In July, Josephy finished second in the Super Tuesday on PokerStars for $60,000. He recently won the $50k Guaranteed for $10,400 and finished third in the $100 rebuy, both on PokerStars, for $16,300. He finished 386th in the 2008 WSOP Main Event for $28,950 and landed in fourth in a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Razz tournament during the 2006 World Series for $39,080. On the World Poker Tour, he placed 12th in the Season IV WPT Championship for $146,460 and logged a 20th place finish at the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic during Season VI for $67,655.
Congratulations to Cliff JohnnyBax Josephy for winning FTOPS Event 15.
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